N - Z

Pinterest

Staying positive

From accusations of political bias to evidence of Russians crafting posts to stoke divisions, many social media platforms are facing serious image problems these days. Not so for Pinterest, which just keeps quietly plugging along and attracting more users. In September, the company announced that more than 250 million people are now active on the platform each month, “pinning” images of home décor and DIY project ideas on virtual, shareable boards. And a recent survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index showed that, while satisfaction has gone down this year for platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, users are happier than ever with Pinterest. The platform has remained a “positive corner of the Internet,” as cofounder Evan Sharp has described it, in part because of its visual simplicity. In general, people go to Pinterest not to air grievances about current events but to get ideas for things that might make them happy in the future, scrolling through photos of cabinetry and dessert recipes rather than rants from distant uncles (or malicious bots). Investors have also credited Pinterest’s leadership for moving slowly and deliberately, rather than getting swept up in the obsessive focus on immediate growth that has come back to bite other popular tech companies.—Katy Steinmetz